Photo: Facebook Jessica Greaney
Contact lenses: Lack of hygiene attracts parasites
Danger contact lenses: An 18-year-old student goes to the doctor with a sore eye. He discovers a parasite that ate through its cornea!
First it burned, then her eye went red. When her professor interprets her blinking as a flirtation attempt, 18-year-old Jessica Greaney decides to see a doctor. She assumes she has a simple eye infection. In the hospital, the student from England calmed down. It was just a small ulcer in the eye, which could easily be removed.
A week later, Jessica's eye is reminiscent of a red golf ball . The doctors made a mistake, because in the eye of the student is neither an ulcer, nor a later suspected herpes, but a parasite that eats through the cornea.
It sounds like a story from the horror movie, but a living creature through her eye is a reality for Jessica for a week. The girl is actually in mortal danger, in the hospital immediately intensive treatment is initiated. From then on, the student has to take eye drops every ten minutes to kill the parasite. Sleep is therefore out of the question. Jessica stays awake for almost a week until the therapy finally takes effect.
The parasite was Akanthamöben. They were transported to the eye via the student's contact lenses. But how did the Akanthamöben on the lenses? Guilt was a single drop of tap water.
Jessica always kept her contact lenses in a solution on the sink. Tap water often contains a variety of germs, a few splashes were enough to transfer these to the contact lenses. So the Akanthamöbe finally nested between the contact lens and the eye.
In the worst case, infection with parasites can be fatal if they penetrate into the spinal cord. Jessica Greany was lucky, she carries no lasting damage. However, your contact lenses will keep them away from any germs in the future.
Posted by Jessica Greaney on Thursday, April 30, 2015
But how likely is it to actually get infected with parasites through contact lenses?
In general, a so-called Acanthamoeba keratitis is rare, on a MillioenenKontaktlinsenträger come about 30 patients. Endangered are people with a weak immune system or a corneal injury, through which the germs can get into the interior of the eye faster. In fact, however, especially contact lens wearers are affected, because a lack of hygiene can cause a parasite infection in the eye faster than expected.
The right hygiene: How to avoid infections?
- In principle, care should be taken to avoid contact of lenses with tap water. Even on vacation, take care, because germs are also in the sea water.
- Contact lenses, containers and solution bottle provide a breeding ground for amoebae, which get in the eye during insertion. Therefore, not only lenses, but also the accessories should always be cleaned meticulously.
- The container should not contain any residual tap water and should be replaced after three months at the latest.
- It is also important to wear monthly lenses no longer than intended.
- The right order: First wash hands, then insert contact lenses, then make-up. Attention to the selection of cosmetic products, they should be suitable for lens wearers, with creams, the lenses should never come into contact.
